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TSD / Cataloging and Metadata Management: Using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) in Cataloging

Module 3—Selecting the Main Concept: Order of Headings and Format of MeSH Headings


Order of Headings

  • Primary subject headings appear first in the record, followed by secondary subjects in order of importance, or in order of their appearance in the item, if importance cannot be determined
  • In distribution, or as a result of year end processing, headings may appear in alphabetical order, but the primary subjects will always precede the secondary subjects

Format of MeSH Headings

  • Generally, the first letter of all words in 650 $a is upper-cased, with the exception of some species names (Follow capitalization shown in MeSH Browser)
  • All words in 650 $x are lower-cased

Last Reviewed: June 26, 2015